Help needed.

[harry4265]

I have never built a PC before but am now ready too. I have been wanting too for about 3 years now. By the way I am in the UK. My Budget is about £400 ($800) I know this isnt very much but it is my first build and I want to build it with lots of room for improvment.
I have attempted to put together a list of parts, I get to the end of it and find out that 2 of the products wont go with each other. So do you know of any lists or could you put one together in my budget. All i need within the budget is the case and everything in it. I would like the pc to be faster than my one at the moment, preferably all parts better here is what my pc is like at the moment.

CPU: Intel celeron M : 1.6 ghz

Memory : 512mb

Graphics: Mobile intel 945 express chipset family

That is just a few of my current specs. You can see why I want to build one

So if you could put a list together or know of one inside my budget please help me.

If you put one together can you use http://www.ebuyer.co.uk


Many Thanks,

Harry

[TechGaloot]

What will you be using the computer for? It will make a difference if you want to use it for gaming - and if you do, let us know what games you play.

[harry4265]

Hello there,
Well I do play games, and idealy if you can fit it into my budget than that would be great, I cant realy pick out ones I play as with my PC now they are too slow. But if this is not possible, A *Fast* PC would be great!

Many Thanks

[Cricket]

Do you want a AMD or INTEL based computer?

You can build a decent computer with your budget but it won't be a screaming gaming rig.

Do you know where you're going to be buying your parts from? If you do, post a link to the web site (if they have one).

Cricket

[harry4265]

http://www.ebuyer.co.uk

I would like an Intel Based PC
I dont mind if its no screaming gaming rig. As long as its decent

Thanks for your help!

[Cricket]

Here are some parts to get you started.

CPU - C2D E6550
Motherboard - ASUS P5K
Power Supply - 550 watt Corsair
RAM - Corsair 2GB Kit DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 CL5(5-5-5-18)
Video Card - Can't help you here, I'm not a gamer
Hard drive - Seagate 7200.10 or 7200.11 SATA II
Optical Drive - Lite-On DVD Burner
Sound Card - Try the on-board sound first.
Case - Your choice. Try to get one without a power supply.

Cricket

[harry4265]

What does the C2D stand for?

And does the case matter, as I have heard it may need good ventiltion?

Is there room to expand on the performance of this?

Many Thanks,

Harry


*Update*
I found out that C2D Stands for core 2 duo

wasnt sure which ASUS P5K you are reffering to (http://www.ebuyer.com/search/?qfind=Asus+P5K)

[amdalex]

The standard P5k, unless there are certain extra features you want in the more expensive ones. Also if you want to play games try to get a Nvidia GeForce8800GT. Onboard graphics won't cut it.

[harry4265]

Which one out of these (http://www.ebuyer.com/search/?qfind=Asus+P5K)

[shadowpr]

The first one: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/129125

[harry4265]

Also if you want to play games try to get a Nvidia GeForce8800GT. Onboard graphics won't cut it.

I said earlier my budget was £400 ( $800)
That is well over my budget, I also said that I wouldnt mind if it wasnt the best at gaming, I would rather it be fast then just for gaming.

Question:

Is there a better list of parts that are mainly for making the pc fast in my budget range, As I have been thinking and would rather have a very fast pc, rather than one mainly for gaming.

Many Thanks,

Harry

[amdalex]

You can bring down the price a lot by using a budget GeForce 8400GS card.

[Masaki 7-11]

Here is a good list of parts from the website you suggested for under £400:

CoolerMaster Elite Case w/ 460W CoolerMaster Power Supply
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135101
£42.99

Asus P5K
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/129125
£70.97

C2D E6750
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/130484
£118.92

Lite-On DVD+/-RW 20X- Retail
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/138762
£21.32

Seagate 250GB 16MB Cache
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/131301
£45.21

OCZ 2x1GB DDR2-800
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/116755
£35.00

8600GT (Inno3D) 256MB GDDR3
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/126974
£53.47

Cart total inc vat: £387.88
Shipping Charge: £6.57
Total: £394.44

[freakitchen]

Don't forget you should also figure in the cost of Windows - if your current system is a pre-built you won't be able to move its copy to your new machine. Masaki's list will make a system that is significantly faster than what you have - the 8600GT will play most current games on medium graphical settings.

[harry4265]

Masaki 7-11

Thanks for tht list its a great help, just to ask a few questions people say you shouldnt use the psu that comes with the case. Is it an ok one with this case, and is that all I need to have inside my pc case.

I while ago I saw a tutorial on here going in order of what to put in first etc, cant find it now can anyone point me inthe right direction.

Many Thanks

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by harry4265 Masaki 7-11 Thanks for tht list its a great help, just to ask a few questions people say you shouldnt use the psu that comes with the case. Is it an ok one with this case, and is that all I need to have inside my pc case. I while ago I saw a tutorial on here going in order of what to put in first etc, cant find it now can anyone point me inthe right direction. Many Thanks

Most cases have bad built-in power supplies, so generally speaking it's best to stay away from them. CoolerMaster and Antec are among the exceptions to this generality, so going with that case/power supply will work fine. The list has all the parts that you'll need for building the computer.

[liambl]

If you could squeeze an extra £50, you could get a Radeon HD 3850 which is about 3 times faster then the 8600GT: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135726

[shadowpr]

Originally Posted by harry4265 I while ago I saw a tutorial on here going in order of what to put in first etc, cant find it now can anyone point me inthe right direction.

http://www.pcmech.com/byopc/

[harry4265]

Thanks for all your advice,

Another question
I will be making this pc over a period of time, not all at once is this a bad thing?

Also, when I buy a component for the PC how do I go about knowing if it is working if the pc is not up and running yet?

Many Thanks,

Harry

[freakitchen]

Bad idea to buy components over an extended period of time. By the time you've bought your final component, the first component will likely be significantly cheaper, or looking slightly differently, there will be a better-performing part for the same money. A worst-case scenario would be that you'd have to sacrifice on performance/quality in order to get hold of parts that are compatible with the first component you purchased, however long ago. Things move quickly in component-world.

In short, save the cash and buy everything at once. You won't have a working system until you can do this, at any rate. You can only establish whether a part is working or not by building the computer.

[harry4265]

Good Idea that is what I will do, I will save up the money and back off off buying until I am certain I have all the money I need. Many Thanks for your advice.

[freakitchen]

Good call - be sure to resurrect this thread when you do have the money to buy - if that's in more than, say, a month's time, the best components for your budget may have changed.

[piasabird]

I thought in the EU they had different rules for OEM operating systems.

[freakitchen]

As far as I'm aware, an OEM copy of Windows allows a single install on one machine - if the Motherboard is changed for anything other than a direct replacement of the original board, you are no longer licensed. This covers both pre-built machines and custom builds.

[piasabird]

You are assuming the same rules apply in the EU as in the USA and that may not be so.

Here is an article on the subject:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/05...ws_copies_you/

[freakitchen]

I read that too, a potential 'loophole', certainly, but a loophole in licensing that is the same as in the US.

This is not what the licence agreement says, of course, and it's probably not what Microsoft's lawyers are going to say when you meet them in court. So if anybody wants to be a test case, please note Andrew's disclaimer towards the end of this piece.

I'm not about to suggest to our EU users to try and exploit this.